Not only banks: criminological models on the infiltration of public contracts by Italian organized crime

Purpose – The paper aims at expanding knowledge on the presence of organized criminal groups in public contract procurement in the south of Italy. It seeks to highlight how the capabilities of law enforcement agencies could be enhanced by means of criminological models. Design/methodology/approach – The paper sets out a criminological model with which to assess the general and specific risks of the infiltration of public procurement in the south of Italy by organized crime (OC). Findings – According to the geographical risk assessment, infiltration by OC of public procurement seems to be widespread in some areas of south Italy, especially Sicily, Calabria and Campania. On the other hand, the specific risk may increase according to certain features of the company and its representatives, the value of the contract, the low specialization of the activities required by the public contract. Originality/value – The paper describes a criminological model with which to assess the general and specific risk of infiltration by OC of public procurement in south Italy.